Minister urges Egyptians working abroad to ‘postpone’ travel plans

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 23: Ambassador Nabila Makram, Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptians Affairs Abroad, has appealed to all Egyptians wishing to return to their work in Kuwait or any other country to postpone their travel until the picture is fully clear regarding the suspension of air traffic and the opening of airspace, reports Al-Anba daily. She said they should travel only in case of extreme necessity until the vision is fully clear about air traffic during the coming period in light of the second wave of COVID- 19 pandemic.

Makram affirmed that the crisis of Egyptians stranded abroad has reappeared after the suspension of flights in a number of countries, especially in Kuwait due to the number of Egyptians working there, who were forced to travel through the Emirates, Oman and Turkey as “transit” during their return trip to Kuwait.

In a press statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Immigration said the minister has been following up the workflow of the Immigration Ministry’s operations room, and the position of Egyptians stranded abroad after the suspension of flights in a number of countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Meanwhile, Major General Mazen Fahmy, Egypt’s Assistant Minister of Immigration for Communities Affairs, during his review of the number of stranded Egyptians who contacted the operations room through various means or registered with the stranded form prepared by the Ministry of Immigration, said the number of those who have registered has reached 1,150 Egyptians stranded in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and Turkey.

These Egyptians expressed their desire to either complete the trip and stay in the country where they are stranded until the flights to Kuwait are reopened, or return to Egypt. Earlier, Nabila Makram has announced the activation of an operations room for stranded citizens after several countries, including Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, decided to close their borders as part of precautionary measures to curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID- 19), reports Al-Rai daily.

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